ON THE INCA TRAIL, PERU—My knees knocked in trepidation as I peered at the burnt-orange sign festooned in giant Spanish lettering: “Piscacucho KM 82.”

My friends and I were at the start point of the four-day Inca Trail that would take us up, down and around three mountain passes and into the mystical centuries-old city of Machu Picchu. We were here to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the City’s “discovery” by American explorer Hiram Bingham in 1911.

Our preparations involved more than just booking flights, accommodations, and tours. That was easy. The real challenge took place two nights before we hit the trail, smack in the lobby of Cusco’s Prisma Hotel. Our group received small duffel bags from our charismatic tour guide, Ozzi, with a mandate it weigh only six kilograms. My everyday handbag wears more than that!

Non-negotiable items, a sleeping bag and Ritz cracker-thin mattress, weighed 2.5 kg. That left 3.5 kg to pack for a 43-kilometre trek, three overnights in the frosty mountains in a two-man tent, four days traversing mountain passes, dense jungle dripping with humidity and Mother Nature’s laughing twists of weather splatters.

“The first day,” Ozzi says, “is a gentle walk (a mere 12 km); the second, a challenge; the third day, unforgettable.” His meaning of gentle proved to be much different than mine.

To acclimatize to the altitude, we took a bus from Cusco, through the Sacred Inca Valley and on to Ollantaytambo for the night. Along the way, we stopped in Caccaccollo, the porters’ family village, and watched as the women transformed the coarse wool of the alpacas and llamas into puffy balls of wool, colourful hats, sweaters and tablecloths. The hats, priced at $8 (U.S.), were irresistible souvenirs.

The first morning we woke the roosters as we hit the trail. The tapestry of emerald green cloaks draping the rolling mountains, pointy caps of snow piercing the cobalt sky, striking ruins hollowed into the hillsides, was an eye buffet well worth the early wakeup call. Conversations, which lost direction in the memory-thinning altitude, wafted easily as people stopped to catch their runaway breath, or let the porters, Olympus God apparitions, streak past with backpacks stretching from ear lobes to their ankles.

A traditional method for opening up the breathing passages on mountain ascent is the Peruvian custom of drinking coca leaf tea and/or stuffing the leaves of the coca plant in one’s numb, expanded cheeks. It is a centuries-old custom that works. A firm believer in ritual, and knowing that our second day involved ascending the top of Dead Woman’s Pass, I stuffed a small bag full of coca leaves and began my chew at the start of our 6:30 a.m. hike.

Our day two 5:30 a.m. wake-up call arrived with porters delivering steaming cups of coffee or coca leaf tea to our tent zipper. After a robust breakfast, we hit the trail for a second 12-km day. Having breezed through a half-marathon, this distance seemed a mere pittance of endurance. I hadn’t bargained for the steep ascent to the top of Dead Woman’s Pass (elevation 4,200 metres). For several hours, although we stopped many times to gasp for breath, we all felt good, fascinated with the ultrathin footpaths that weaved, and weaved, and weaved heavenward. Gawking into the neverending panorama, pole, foot, pole, foot, I finally had to stop looking up at Dead Woman; I was beginning to relate to her. As we gained the top of the Pass, the heavens threw us a resounding shower of rain that assaulted us sideways. Swathed in heavy-duty black garbage bags, we resembled a cross between Rocky and castoffs from Noah’s Ark.

Imagine our surprise, when, after a hearty lunch of soup and lasagna, we descended. With the continued onslaught of rain came the mini mud slides, which combined with the spectacularly uneven Inca steps became my biggest personal challenge.

Then, came our third day. “Cecilia,” Ozzi whispered, after yet another excellent psyche-boosting lunch. “There are 2,000 steps to go down this afternoon. Don’t be embarrassed, but we are going to give you two porters to help you down.”

Embarrassed?

“I’ll take four,” I declared. “And one of those Cleopatra litters as well.”

It occurred to me between the 60th and 70th steps that I was on the opposite end of the stairway to heaven. The centuries-old steps, dramatically uneven, ragged and chipped, were anywhere between eight inches to more than a foot apart. There was no rhyme or rhythm to the pattern, nor a place to put my size-10 foot on the size-5 steps. It was the biggest adventure of my life.

On day four, I crawled out of the tent at 3:25 a.m., coca leaf tea in hand. In a hurry to beat the tourists, our renewed spirit propelled us to Intipunku, the Sun Gate. Another couple of hours trekking, we reached the mysterious ancient city of Machu Picchu.

The back-breaking work, human effort and brilliant skills it took to fit this Lost City’s massive stones, one into another, without the aid of striking tools or mortar is, in modern-day terms, an incredible engineering feat.

The train to Machu Picchu is a spectacular day of sightseeing. But the actual experience of tramping the paths the Incas still haunt, stumbling down their infamous stairs, sharing lunch on the side of a mountain with people from multitudinous cultures, is an unparalleled, mystical, experience.

After several bouts of chemotherapy a few years ago, and a hip that creaks with arthritis, surviving and thriving the Inca Trail can only be attributed to a belief in the kindness of the Inca Gods—and a heavy dollop of support from my encouraging walking companions.

LEARNING: Although American explorer Hiram Bingham is widely credited with “rediscovering” Machu Picchu (1911), there is a strong conviction among the Peruvian people that Lizarraga Ruiz (1901), should be credited for the discovery. There is a feeling amongst the locals that Bingham harvested gold and silver artifacts in exchange for financial support from at least one wealthy family. A great many of the artifacts, which include Inca pottery, bones and utensils were taken by Bingham back to Yale University (one of Bingham's expedition sponsors), for study purposes, with the agreement they would be returned to Peru by 1918.

GOING: Recommended timeframe to walk the Trail is June through August (winter) when the weather is drier, but, the crowds are heavier and the prices higher. January can be rainy; however the day we reached Machu Picchu, the temperature was in the high 20’s, sunny, hot and humid. Crowd levels are thinner at this time of year. The Trail is closed in February for maintenance and safety (rain/mudslides).

PREPARING: Adjusting for the effects of altitude is key. Basically, the higher the altitude, the less oxygen in the air. (Vomiting, migraines, dehydration are some of the side effects). Lima is at sea level; Cusco, at 3380m, has 30% less oxygen in the air; the tour’s second day ascent spans altitude changes from 3200km to 4200m (Dead Woman’s Pass) then back down to 3600m to the night’s camp. It is recommended that to acclimatize to the altitude, travelers spend at least 48 hours in Cusco and Ollantaytambo before beginning the Inca Trail Trek. Consistent personal hydration (water versus coffee or alcohol) is a must. Altitude pills can be scripted from your doctor. Daily walks are between 12km and 16km, which includes traversing high altitude passes. Guide books state a requirement of moderately high levels of fitness; however, I recommend a minimum intermediate level of physical fitness, with the ability and stamina to climb and descend very steep steps and uneven terrain.

ARRANGING: Gap Adventures ( www.gapadventures.com) is a full service agency that will book your flights and accommodations from Lima to Cusco, guided tours of Cusco, (the acknowledged archaeological capital of South America), private transportation to Ollantaytambo and a private bus to the start of Km 82. Trail Permits, which are issued to licensed trail operators only, are issued on a first come basis; if you plan to hike the trail between May and August, book at least six months in advance.

SLEEPING/DINING: The four-day trek includes two-man tents, three meals a day, afternoon tea, hearty trail snacks, and safe drinking water. Seven day cost, start and finishing in Cusco, (with accommodation in Cusco and Ollantaytambo) is approx $1,050 per person. Two-day, one-night excursions, known as the Sacred Inca Trail, or Royal Inca Trail are also available.

TRAVEL TIP: You don’t need a yellow fever shot to enter Peru from Canada, but some countries, such as Costa Rica, require a Yellow Fever vaccination (to enter their country), when flying from Peru, whether or not you have been to the Amazon. Make sure to check whether your entry country requires a Yellow Fever shot.

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